October 31, 2004

From the papers...20

MOM is the first to introduce a 4 days work week here in Singapore. 4 days work week! How lovely! Work 4 days, rest 3 days. Ahh, life in balance!

Now, here's the catch. MOM employees work the same number of hours as other civil servants. 42 hours per week. In 4 days. The spokesperson explained that an employee can choose to rest on any particular day of the week. The 4 days work week is effective as long as you clock 42 hours in a week.So, it's like 10.5 hours a day. Meaning, if you start work at 8.30am, you knock off at 7pm, too early for supper, too late for dinner. That kinda weird time.

So, maybe you choose to work Monday through Thursday.Friday, you start your now-weekly long weekend. The damn mobile rings. It's just your colleague who chose to work on Friday (cos she hates shopping on Friday evenings) and rest on Monday (the end of Monday blues). So, you gotta sorta 'work' whenever and wherever you are cos your organisation reminds you that you are part of the organisation, rest day or not. Besides, surely, you cannot leave your colleague in the lurch! Otherwise, guess who will be the one to clear the shithole if things don't get done on time (on whose time, anyway)?

Finally Saturday is here. Glorious weekend. Look up the office building opposite the cafe in which you are sipping your iced mocha. Some people do enjoy working on Saturdays. It's quieter, basically. As you dig into your raspberry cheesecake, the damn mobile rings and the ringtone tells you that it's your boss (who works 8 days week, if possible). Weekly dilemma: to answer or not? If not, what excuse can you give?

Sunday. Agonizing evenings. Welcome Monday blues.

Of course, it's not going to be like what I painted. Because ultimately, we are suckers. The more we are told we don't have to work, the longer we will work. I just came across this term 'Office country club culture'. It means... we are so used to spending so much time at work (unproductively) that we are treating it as if it's the only place to socialise (i.e. gossip), have parties (at the pantry), and have entertainment (gossip, parties and surfing net). Some of us are actually afraid to leave the office on time. The office that has become a country club.

Never mind how many work day week. This is really about efficiency and productivity.

Posted by 杏 cy （Jancy） at 15:01